


paglipas ng panahon

by inkwellAnomaly



Category: Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral (2018)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 12:01:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16085684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkwellAnomaly/pseuds/inkwellAnomaly
Summary: Time passes, things change. Some things, however, stay the same.





	paglipas ng panahon

_i. hatinggabi_

 

Joven does his best to commit it all to memory - the city lights twinkling below them, the cold night air, the slow music playing on the car radio. He wants to remember tonight.

 

He turns to Vicente, who’s in the driver’s seat. It’s already been seven minutes since they arrived at the lookout point, but neither of them have said anything.

 

This is it, he thinks to himself.

 

_ ii. tanghali _

 

Joven recalls all those lazy mornings in their subdivision, spent catching dragonflies in the tall grass and playing ball before being washed down with a glasses of orange juice.

 

“You’re the prince,” Vicente says to Joven suddenly while they’re in the middle of the playground. 

 

“And I’m the knight.” Vicente kneels reverently before him, hands on his imaginary sheathed sword. 

 

“Why are you doing that?”

 

“I’m promising that I’ll protect you,” Vicente answers nonchalantly, turning his head back up to Joven.

 

“That’s boring,” Joven says. “I don’t want to be protected. Besides, I want to protect you too.”

 

Vicente gets up and giggles. “You’re it!” he says, tapping Joven on the shoulder before running away.

 

_ iii. takipsilim _

 

They’re grade five, and Vicente’s class vice president, vice captain of the basketball team and an honors student all at the same time. 

 

“Joven, can I ask you a favor~?” says Clara, the girl who sits behind him.

 

Joven is snapped out of his daydreaming, staring at dark clouds outside their classroom.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Can you give this to Vicente?”

 

She hands him a folded paper with writing inside. Joven remembers that it’s the first week of February.

 

For some reason, Joven crumples the paper once he gets home, tears in his eyes and his face red as he throws it in the trash. He notes how the air smells like it’s about to rain.

 

_ iv. dapithapon _

 

“So who are you asking to prom?” Vicente asks Joven as they walk towards the high school parking lot, where Vicente’s driver is waiting. It’s cheaper to ride together, Joven’s father reminds him.

 

“I don’t know yet. You?”

 

“Me neither. But I kinda want something grand, y’know?”

 

“Grand how?”

 

“Like a sign. And candles, forming a heart.”

 

“Medj corny. I’d give it a five out of ten.”

 

“Gago,” Vicente says, playfully punching Joven in the shoulder.

 

Joven glances at Vicente, the two of them bathed in the golden glow of the sunset.

 

His heart drops into his stomach as he realizes who he wants to go to prom with.

 

_ v. magdamag _

 

In the bustle of the crowded bar, Joven remembers the feeling as if everything around him went quiet.

 

“You like him, don’t you?” Julian teases.

 

It’s an inuman, Joven’s fifth one as a college freshman. Julian was his mentor in the org; Joven had also made friends with the other upperclassmen at that point.

 

Joven stares at him. The light from the neon signs are harsh behind Julian.

 

“...Yeah.”

 

Joven knows there’s no getting around it.

 

“You should confess, bro.”

 

“It’s not that simple,” Joven answers. He glances at the other people at the table; most of them busy chatting with each other or singing along to the music. They either didn’t hear the question, or are uninterested in it anyway.

 

“Of course it isn’t. Pero you have to do it,” Julian retorts.

 

Joven doesn’t know if it’s the alcohol making him dizzy.

 

_ vi. madaling araw _

 

Joven doesn’t know how it started, but he and Vicente are suddenly talking to each other every day - going out for coffee, having sleepovers at each other’s houses.

 

There are rumors, of course. Vicente doesn’t seem to pay them mind.

 

They’re nestled under a blanket in Joven’s bedroom, Vicente’s laptop playing the latest Netflix action series. For some reason he had never given up his fixation on heroes, Joven notes as he blinks away his sleep. They’re on episode eighteen, and they didn’t seem to be stopping the binge anytime soon.

 

Vicente is babbling about how the series ties in with this other series, which are from the same comic book - or something like that. Joven’s not really able to follow.

 

“...Hey, Vince.”

 

Vicente pauses the episode and looks Joven straight in the eye.

 

“I have to tell you something.”

 

_ i. hatinggabi _

 

“...Ganda, ‘no?” Vicente remarks casually. Joven’s back in the present - they’re in Antipolo, overlooking the rest of Manila. 

 

“Yeah.”

 

Joven reaches for Vicente’s hand. Vicente flinches a little, but he accepts Joven’s hand in his.

 

Joven wondered if they had ever been just friends. There didn’t seem to be a clear line - they just were what they were. 

 

The stars seemed to shine extra bright that night.


End file.
